S&P affirms Russia's BBB-rating with stable outlook

The Standard & Poor's (S&P) rating agency has affirmed Russia’s "BBB-" credit rating with a stable outlook, S&P said in a report on Saturday.

"We could take a negative rating action in the next 24 months if geopolitical events result in materially tighter international sanctions on Russia," the statement reads. "These could, for example, target large state-owned energy companies, systemically important banks, or the secondary market for Russian sovereign debt. We could also take a negative action if we saw a risk of a material deterioration of Russia's budgetary performance, either due to a looser fiscal framework or contingent liabilities in the banking sector or state-owned enterprises (SOEs)," S&P added.

According to the rating agency, "risks of tighter international sanctions, mostly from the US, remain" but Russia’s "strong policy framework shields the economy, public finance, and the financial system from external shocks."